Facing Reality
by Astrayed
Summary: Hope had to be imagining it. There was no way it was her. People shoved into him as he stood still in the street, gawking at the figure in front of him. It couldn’t be her, no it wasn’t possible. Not anymore. Contains spoilers. VanillexHope FangxLightning
1. Chapter 1

Hope had to be imagining it. There was no way it was her. People shoved into him as he stood still in the street, gawking at the figure no less than twenty feet in front of him. It couldn't be her, no it wasn't possible. He had lost her three months ago when she and Fang had saved Cocoon and yet he couldn't deny how much this girl resembled Vanille.

The girls red hair was tied in pigtails, bouncing off of the sleek grey jacket she wore. Her walk was purposeful and stoic, unlike the carefree skip his Vanille would use. As she turned to cross the street he couldn't deny it anymore.

Her green eyes stared forward, her mouth turned down in a slight frown. Hanging from her neck was a thick beaded necklace. She looked just like Vanille, it had to be her.

Hope started to push against the crowd, trying to weave his way through. Squeezing between a pair of business men he was bumped from the side causing him to fall forward. He stretched his arms out to stop the fall, his hands scraping the harsh stone.

"Watch where you're going punk." A gruff voiced called out.

Pulling himself to his feet he wiped his hands off on his jacket. He tried to see through the sea of people but it was already too late, the girl was gone.

*****

Throughout the meal Lightnings one thought persisted of _"I'm going to kill him."_ It was a Saturday night and Serah had decided to stop by for dinner, which would have been nice if she hadn't decided to bring the big oaf along with her.

Ever since their marriage two weeks ago Snow had been trying to get away with calling her Claire. The baboon had a death wish; he had already called her it ten times this evening. Her rigid hand tightly grasped her cup as she brought it up to her lips. She listened intently as Serah described their trip to Nautilus all the while plotting what to do with Snow as soon as Serah left the room.

There was a knock from the door and Lightning excused herself to answer it. Wrenching the door open she stared in surprise at the boy before her.

Hope was hunched over, his hands on his knees gasping for air. His eyes were wide, sweat dripping down the side of his face.

"Hope…" She started slowly "Are you okay?"

He shook his head and rose up. "I… I need to tell you-"

"Claire who's at the door?" A loud voice boomed from behind her. She twitched inwardly, it was now eleven.

"Hope!" She yelled back.

"C… Claire?" The boy said confused.

"Ignore him." She replied while grabbing his wrist. She pulled him inside the house, shutting the door with her foot. Dragging him into the kitchen she ordered him to sit. He sat.

"Hello Hope!" Serah called out cheerfully. She was busy cleaning the dinner dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, hey." Snow grinned from his seat at the table. He was leaning back with his hands behind his head, his feet crossed on the table.

Lightning glared daggers at him as she went to fetch Hope some water.

"Uhh… hi." Hope managed to stammer out.

"Remove your feet from my table Snow" Lightning said firmly as she placed a glass of water in front of Hope. The boy drank it up thankfully.

"Why? I'm so comfortable! Your table is at the perfect length for me to rest my feet up against."

Lightnings eyebrow twitched. "Would you like my cut off your ankles then?"

"Ehehehe you wouldn't do that… would you?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…fine." Snow said finally pulling himself up.

"Stop being so mean sis!" Serah pouted.

Lightning snorted in response.

"So… Hope" she said, bringing the attention back to the boy. "What brings you here?"

The boy twiddled with his thumbs. "I know this sounds crazy but…" He paused to take a breath. "Down at the market I saw… I saw Vanille!"

*****

The room was completely silent. Hope looked up at Lightning with hopeful eyes. "Maybe they came back… both her and Fang!"

Lightning felt a pang in her chest when she heard that Fang may be back but no, it wasn't possible. She had… she and Vanille had sacrificed themselves to save everyone. There was no way that they could be back, no, not this time.

"Hope…" Serah came over and grabbed his shoulder. "I know that you miss her but she's gone… she completed her focus."

"You were probably just imagining you saw her" Snow added on.

"No I didn't!" Hope pulled away from Serahs grasp. There were tears in the corners of his eyes. "I saw her! I know I did! They looked exactly the same!"

"Exactly?" Serah asked.

"Well no… this girl was wearing a dark grey jacket and she looked way to serious… but other then that they were the same!" Hope said franticly.

Lightning stared down at the boy. His panicked gaze looked into her eyes, and then turned to look into Snows and Serahs. "Please believe me… I'm not making this up."

Serah bit her nails. "Well maybe if you could bring us proof…"

"Stop it Serah don't lead him on." Lightning, previously silent decided to speak up. "Obviously the boy is delusional."

The boy stared up in shock at her. "But Lightning… I… I know I saw her!"

"Stop it, the only here who believes you is you." She responded coolly.

He stiffened and turned to look at Snow and Serah. Serah had wide eyes and was still biting her nails in worry. "Well…" Snow said with a shrug.

"None of you believe me…" Hope said, starting to slowly back up. "I know what I saw was real. I'll get proof and then you'll have to believe me!" He turned and ran out the door.

Serah ran out after him "Hope!" she called out but it was too late, the boy was gone. She turned back to face her sister. "Lightning why do you have to be so cruel!"

Lightning flinched at the name. Serah never called her Lightning unless she was extremely mad at her. "What was I supposed to say? That this girl he saw _was_ Vanille? Why give the boy false hope?"

"Yeah the boy, Lightning. For gods sake he's just a kid!" Snow interrupted.

Her voice started to rise. "Vanille and Fang are gone and no matter how much he misses her she's not coming back!"

His voice rose with hers. "Don't deny that you miss them too, we all do!"

"He's got to grow up and face the facts!"

"Why? So that he can turn into a pessimistic adult like you? Let him think what he wants!"

"It'll just hurt him in the end!"

"So? At least he can admit he misses her!"

"What are you implying?"

"When was the last time you ever mentioned Fang?"

Lightning hissed. "What about her? She was a good companion and it's unfortunate that she died."

"Oh drop the act Claire we know how you two felt for each other."

Lightning stopped and stared at her sister. Her arms were crossed and she looked irritated.

"H-how did you…"

"The first night back you talked in your sleep. Snow filled in the rest of the details."

"I…uh…I" Lightning struggled to find words.

"Just drop it, we'll talk later. Come on Snow it's time we go home."

Snow walked up to Serah looking just as surprised by her outbreak as Lightning felt. Together they left the house shutting the door with a _click._

With a sigh Lightning went into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of vodka. Pouring herself a glass she stared into the liquid. How did they know about her feelings? It wasn't like she was obvious about them or anything. Damn it Fang… She drained her glass. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

The first chapter of my story, hope you like it so far! Reviews and criticism are appreciated


	2. Chapter 2

_One week earlier_

Something was wrong. As she groggily opened her eyes she knew it was true. Her body ached and tiny scratches covered her skin. She lay flat on her stomach, arms stretched out before her. She tried to move, flinching in the process. What had happened to her? She remembered screaming—someone had been screaming her name. Vanille… yes that was it. Someone was screaming for her and then… nothing. She felt something dig into her side. As she slowly attempted to shift off the object, she stopped, taking note of her surroundings.

Surrounding her body were tiny shards of crystal. They glimmered softly in the sunlight. She attempted to reach for one within distance of her hand but her fingertips barely skimmed its surface. Taking a deep breath she stretched her arm out, muscles screaming in protest. Her effort wasn't in vain; her fingers grasped the edge of the shard. She closed her eyes and paused to take a breath.

The sound of footsteps caused her to reopen her eyes. The footsteps stopped and before her stood two dirt covered boots. They were a metallic grey, with a green insignia boldly printed out on the shin. Her eyes drifted upwards and locked with a man who stared down at her in contempt. Without removing his gaze he lifted a radio up to his lips.

"Target located."

*****

Vanille sat alone in the room. Her head rested against her arms as she stared at the other end of the table. Two chairs sat empty where two men previously sat and asked her questions.

"Do you know what a L'Cie is?"

"Do you recognize any of these people?"

They had shown her pictures of a group of people and places but no matter what they did her answer was always the same.

"No."

One of the men had sighed. They were getting nowhere. Running his fingers through his hair he asked, "Do you remember anything?"

With eyes downcast and a voice barely above a whisper she replied, "No."

Soon after the two had packed up their stuff and left through the door. She was told to stay in the room and so she did. Why refuse? It wasn't like she had anywhere to be. The people seemed kind enough, even with all the questions. They had healed up most of her wounds; only her thigh still hurt. At first it had felt like her whole leg was on fire. They had covered it up with a bandage and told her explicitly to not remove it for any reason. They gave her some medicine to help with the pain but it still felt like it was burning.

Vanille stared at her reflection in the mirror across the room. Dark circles were under her eyes and her hair hung idly around her face. She attempted to get comfortable. She closed her eyes as she buried her face in her elbow crease. _Maybe I should get some sleep_ she mused. _If they need me they can wake me up._

*****

On the other side of the mirror two men watched the young woman drift off to sleep. A large man wearing a pinstriped suit sat at a desk with his thick fingers folded beneath his face. Dragging his eyes away from the girl he turned to look at the man standing beside him.

"You're sure she's the right girl?" His deep voice boomed.

"Yes, sir," The other replied as he flipped through the pages on his clipboard. "Other then her name she doesn't remember anything, but she was found in the correct area and she has the mark..." His voice trailed off and he started to fidget.

"What is it Damien?" The man snapped at him.

"Something appears to be wrong with her mark. When examining it, the doctor claimed that the whole area around it was infected."

"We'll sort that out later." He said, waving it off. "For now we need to find a way to make her useful to me."

"…Sir?" Damien inquired.

The man in question stood up. He shuffled over to the window and pressed his hand against it. The edge of his L'Cie mark became visible. "The Fal'Cie must be favouring me." The man muttered, ignoring the young man.

"Sir?" He questioned again.

The man turned around. "My focus is to eliminate Lightning Farron and her little band of merry men." There was a glint in his eye. "And we're going to use Vanille to help us."

"What if her memory comes back? She'll never help you then."

"That will be dealt with first thing tomorrow. She's useless as she is now anyways." He moved towards the door, his hand pausing on the handle. He twisted his head back to look at Damien.

"Currently she's like an empty shell; she just needs memory to fill her. No one said they necessarily had to be her own." The man smiled smugly before turning the handle and leaving through the door.

Damien shuddered and turned to watch as the girl was shaken awake and guided to where she would be sleeping. "You're going to have to go through a lot tomorrow but at the end of it you'll be a new person…" He sighed and went to turn off the light switch. "Whether you want to be or not." He left the room in silence.

*****

The man sat impatiently drumming his fingers on his armrest. "What's taking them so long?"

"T-they should be here mo-mo-momentarily, Sir," His assistant managed to stutter out.

He grunted and sank back into his chair. They were in his office—a big, well-lit room that was surrounded by bookshelves. It was his own private library full of writings, some dating back to the War of Transgressions time period.

A knock came from the door. The man straightened up. "Open it!" He barked.

His assistant scurried over and unlocked the door. Vanille and a man in uniform appeared through the doorway. "Father," she called out and started to walk over to give him a hug.

With her arms around his waist he patted her on the back and smiled "Hello Vanille. How was the doctor's?"

She let out a sigh. "Tiring. They wouldn't let me leave. I persistently told them that I was okay but they checked over everything at least three times! It's like they expected me to be ill or something." She grumbled.

"It's over now, so why don't you go head to bed?"

"I _am_ pretty tired," She admitted. "Goodnight Dad."

"Goodnight Vanille."

As she left the room the man's smile fell. Dismissing his assistant, he turned to face the man who had entered along side Vanille. "The results?" He questioned.

"Positive. The doctors injected the memories as you requested without any problems." Damien responded while taking his helmet off.

"Excellent." He started to rub his hands together. "Now, we can start our planning."

"Of course, Sir. Also, the girl is requesting to go to town alone tomorrow."

"What ever for?"

"I'm guessing it has to do with your upcoming birthday."

The man seemed pleased with the response "That's fine. She has my permission."

"Should she be tailed?"

"No. If she caught sight of you she would become suspicious. Now off with you, I have some paperwork to finish."

Damien inclined his head. "Yes, Sir."

The door shut with a _click _as the man settled down to do some work.

*****

Hope sat in the coffee shop and waited. He took small sips of his hot chocolate as he watched the crowd pass outside the window. For the third day in a row he sat waiting for her. He had to prove Lightning wrong; he knew what he saw was real. As he continued to eye the swarm of people, he glimpsed a flash of red in the corner of his eye. He turned and stared at Vanille's figure as she sauntered by the window.

He quickly pulled out his camera from his pocket and pushed the shutter button. A tiny, wistful smile graced his features as Vanille's frame appeared on the screen. _Here's your proof Lightning._ Shoving the camera back into his pocket he dashed out the door.

*****

Vanille strolled through the packed streets admiring the scenery around her. Though she had been through here all her life, recently, it felt… new in some way. Shrugging off the feeling, she continued on her way home, her shopping bag swinging beside her.

She had bought father a new watch. His birthday was coming up and she wanted to surprise him with something. Besides he had just bought her a new jacket and she wanted to pay him back somehow. She slowed down as she reached the cross walk.

She looked down at the jacket. It was a nice jacket—that she'd admit—but she couldn't help but feel restrained in it. Ignoring her discomfort, she started to cross the street when she felt her arm being grabbed from behind. With her free arm flailing about, she was pulled to the side of the road. Jerking her arm free she turned and came face to face with a young man.

He had silver hair and was wearing a colourful coat with a green scarf surrounding his neck. His cheeks were red and he looked up at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "Vanille?" he asked breathlessly.

She stared at the boy in shock "How do you… How do you know my name?"

"Vanille… it's me, Hope!"

"… I'm sorry; I think you have me confused with someone else."

Pain filled the boy's eyes and she couldn't understand why. He grabbed her arm desperately. "Maybe… Maybe if you saw everyone you'd remember…"

She tugged her arm away, her fingers recoiling from his soft touch. "I'm sorry I… I have to go."

She turned and ran away from the boy. "Vanille!" He shouted after her, but she didn't look back. She kept running and turned into an alleyway. She quickly ducked down behind a dumpster. Who was that boy? How did he know her name?

Her cheeks felt warm. As she reached up to touch them she realized that she was crying. Tears silently streamed down her face and she buried her head into her knees. What was wrong with her? Why had meeting this boy affected her so much? She tried to stop the tears but they kept flowing.

She was crying for reasons she couldn't understand.

*****

Lightning sat in her living room flipping through the paper when she heard a knock coming from the door. Folding up the paper, she made her way towards the door. If it was another salesperson trying to sell her one of those stupid moogles… there would be blood. And pain, lots of pain.

She slid the door open and lifted an eyebrow as she saw Hope in the doorway. "Is this going to start to become a common occurrence?"

The boy didn't answer, he simply brushed past her. "I have proof," He called over his shoulder while walking into her kitchen. Shutting the door, she turned to follow him.

Upon entering the room she found him rubbing his eyes. "Stop rubbing your eyes," She chided. "Let's see this proof of yours."

Pulling out a picture from his pocket he thrust his arm out towards her. She reached out and gently took the picture from his grasp. It was upside down; as she flipped it over she froze. She looked up at his face but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "That's… That's not possible."

He made no reply. She looked down at the picture; there was no denying it. It was Vanille. The same hair, the same face, the only thing missing was her perky little smile. Lightning struggled for words "I'm sorry I didn't believe you the first time but it just seemed so –"

"I talked to her," Hope interrupted her.

"What?"

"I talked to her," He started slowly, "But… she didn't recognize me."

The boy looked so crestfallen. Lightning wished that Serah was here. She was much better at comforting people than her.

Another knock came from the door. "Wait here," she ordered. She quickly walked down the hallway. _Let it be Serah,_ she prayed, _Hell, even Snow would be okay. _

She tore the door open, yet it was neither of whom she was expecting. Her mouth widened in shock and she blinked to make sure she wasn't imagining it.

"Hello sunshine, did you miss me?"

* * *

Thank you for all the lovely reviews last chapter! From now on you can give anonymous reviews. Sorry, I hadn't realized they'd been turned off before.

And a thank you goes out to Lizstomanic aka x3LJ for being my proofreader


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